Top 20 List of Felonies

I hope you are researching a ‘list of felonies’ for homework assignment or for some other reason as opposed to trying to determine whether a particular crime you might’ve committed or a friend may be charged with would be classified as a felony. There are a vast number of potential felony charges, and many different classifications or degrees for each charge.

For example, a person could face a felony charge of assault in the first degree, second degree, third degree, or even the fourth degree. They could also be facing a class A, class B, class C, class D felony or some other classification, depending on the jurisdiction and state.

Below is a list of felony crimes that are most common in the majority of states throughout the country.

When you look at this list of felonies, you may be wondering how common some of them are as opposed to others. In the United States, the vast majority of felony crimes fall under drug abuse violations. There were 1.8 million drug abuse violations prosecuted during the previous year alone. There were over 1.4 million driving while intoxicated (or more formally known as driving under the influence) during that same period of time.

There were 103,000 felony charges filed for forgery and counterfeiting. This information was derived from the Uniform Crime Reports, made available by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Now, you may be wondering what are felonies?

A felony crime is considered an extremely serious crime that was committed (State of Connecticut). There are two basic classifications of crimes: felonies and misdemeanors. How they are treated in the court system and how they affect person after they are either found guilty, plead guilty, or plead no contest can have a significant impact on not only sentencing recommendations, but the rest of their life as well.

A misdemeanor is considered a far less serious crime. A person who is found guilty of a misdemeanor will be much more likely to have their record expunged or sealed than if they were charged with and found guilty of a felony.

Misdemeanor charges usually end up with sentences of no more than one year in a local, county jail. Felonies, on the other hand, will usually have sentencing recommendations between one year, at a minimum, to life or even death. A person who has been convicted of a felony will often be moved to a state prison facility, but an individual who is convicted of a felony and sentenced to less than three years may serve their time in a county or local jail. That all depends on the jurisdiction and available space in those particular prison systems.

A class 1 or class A felony conviction is the most serious classification. This kind of felony crime can result in a life prison sentence. It can also, in some states and jurisdictions, result in the death penalty.

Class 2 or class B felonies can certainly result in life imprisonment or a minimum of 20 years in jail.

Class 3 or class C felonies can often see sentence recommendations of between 5 and 20 years.

Class 4 or class D felonies can see prison sentences from between 1 to 10 years in jail.

For states that have other classifications, such as class 5 or 6, those are often considered just one or two steps above a misdemeanor and can result in a minimum prison sentence of one year.

All felony convictions could result in the imposition of various fines as well as prison sentences. Rarely will a felony conviction result in allowing the individual to go free. They will most likely have to serve some amount of time in a prison.

Every crime on this felony list will also result in the individual charged and convicted with those crimes losing a number of civil rights. Each state treats these differently, and in 14 states the person can lose their right to vote. In 25 states, they could lose the right to run for and hold public office. In almost every state, they will lose the legal right to possess firearms.

Facing a felony charge is extremely serious. No matter what led to that charge, it’s important to understand the different classifications and crimes that can be considered felonies. It’s also vital that the individual understands how a conviction can impact the rest of their life.